Researchers from the University of Nottingham have identified a link between chronic knee pain in osteoarthritis and an increased risk of cognitive impairment, though the pain itself is not shown to be the direct cause. The findings are reported in Pain Magazine.
In the controlled study, adult male mice were used. A group received injections of monoiodoacetate into the knee to induce inflammation and pain resembling osteoarthritis, while another group received a saline placebo as a control. Monoiodoacetate creates knee pain and inflammation that mimic the clinical condition, yet the experiment did not demonstrate that knee pain alone leads to cognitive impairment in mice.
A separate, earlier study from the same university strengthened the observation that individuals with knee osteoarthritis often exhibit cognitive impairment associated with pain. The authors of the current study suggest that this cognitive impact may be influenced by multiple factors beyond pain alone, including the effects of pain medications, advancing age, psychological health, and socio economic conditions.
Earlier work also indicates that hormone replacement therapy during menopause may be linked to a heightened risk of dementia, adding additional context to how various physiological and treatment factors can intersect with cognitive health.